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T|je Stye^erds' Watct) ! 



By 



Copyright 1892. 




Troy, N. Y. 
WILLIAM J. WOODS, 

Catholic Bookseller, 
1892 






THE SHEPHERDS' WATCH. 



Chill, wintry skies looked down on Bethlehem, 
And. weary pilgrims lay in slumbers deep, 

While under heaven, the only roof for them, 

The shepherds kept night watches with their sheep. 



And weary watch it was, for wolves will prowl 
Amid the shadows of the starless night, 

And rest is sleepless when the jackal's howl 
Scatters the flock in terror and afright. 



Aye ! weary watch it was, the night was dark, 
The air was chill and damp with foggy rain, 

The brushwood failed to catch the friendly spark, 

And longed-for sleep oppressed the weary brain. 



What dreams were theirs, these shepherds on the hills? 

What great ambition gave them courage? None. 
They watched their sheep and bore accompanying ills, 

And simply prayed : Jehovah's will be done. 



No dreams of wealth disturbed their soul's repose, 
No wild desire where others sowed to reap ; 

The morning found them as the evening's close 
Simple, perhaps as simple as their sheep. 



And so they shivered in the chill night air, 

And drew their sheepskin coats in closer fold, 

Stretching their forms on branches hard and bare, 
To snatch a moment from the world and cold. 



But suddenly the darkness fled the sky, 

The sheep sank trembling on the silvered ground, 
And lo ! an angel of the Lord stood by, 

And -brightness as of Heaven shone around. 



Speechless with fear the cowering shepherds lay : 

" Fear not," the angel said, " good news I bring 

With joy for you ; a Saviour 's born to-day, 
Lo ! Christ is in the city of the King." 



Ah ! many a wintry night our hearts have known, 
When sin and sorrow filled the burthened air 

With wailing voices by the wild winds blown 
Across the world in accents of despair. 



And many a soul yet feels the evening chills 

That creep around him with the gathering shade, 

And looks in vain across the cheerless hills 

For even a tinge of light so long delayed. 



He bears, perchance, the weight of others' sins, 
Perchance the crushing fault is all his own ; 

The dew lies dense, and deeper night begins, 
He finds himself upon the fields alone. 



He looks for courage from the worldly wise, 
He seeks for comfort in the ways of men ; 

A little light shoots out across the skies, 

And leaves him lost in deeper night again. 



lrn to find the strength he needs? 
eer him and the light 
Df wild heroic deeds, 



Where shall he tui.. 

The hope to cheer him and the light to guide ? 
Ah ! not in dreams of «"i^ Uamin ri<«.^c 

re tide. 



Nor yet in drifting down a pleasun 



The soul that clings to God's eternal love, 

And strives, though feebly, as the days go by 

Will hear some night a voice he dreamed not of, 
And see a glory light the hopeless sky. 



His heart will leap for gladness, and his feet 
Will hurry him to kneel before the shrine, 

Where wrapt in adoration he may greet 

With words of tender love the Child Divine. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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